MST3K 201 - Rocketship X-M
The movie An expedition to the Moon goes off course to Mars, where a civilization decimated by atomic war is discovered. The episode Host segments Prologue: The SOL's newly designed bridge is revealed as Joel is working on his robot buddies – Crow has a toothache and Tom's voice is undergoing renovation. Invention Exchange: Tom Servo's new voice is revealed (with tribute/riffs to and )! In Deep 13, Dr. F's new assistant TV's Frank is introduced (because Dr.Erhardt is missing) and treats his new position like he's working a drive-thru of his former job. Joel tries to convince Frank that they want their order "eat in" to make him bring the SOL back to Earth, but Forrester arrives in the nick of time telling him all orders are "to go" with them and punishes him. Joel's invention is the BGC-19, a mobile drum kit to allow a band's drummer to be the dynamic frontman. In Deep 13, Frank is responsible for the Mads' invention which is also the BGC-19; which he has the Mole People Gerry and Sylvia bring in. The BGC-19 bears a striking resemblance to Ellen Ripley's cargo loader in . Segment Two: Joel and the Bots salute the unsung heroes: the Reporters of Rocketship X-M, with each reporter being furnished with a silly name. Segment Three: Joel is lecturing the ‘Bots on the topic of Selective Gravity and quizzes them on which objects are funny or not funny under the influence of Selective Gravity. Segment Four: Joel and the Bots are feeling a little lost in thought, quoting many songs and famous authors, when they are visited by Valeria (from the season one movie Robot Holocaust) on the Hexfield Viewscreen. Segment Five: Joel and the Bots scold the Mads on the inappropriateness of the movie's subject matter in suggesting the characters' final fate would happen to them upon returning to Earth. Dr. F shows Frank how to “Push the Button”. Trivia * This episode was the fifth to air during Turkey Day '91. Obscure references *''"...I've been to paradise but I've never been to me."'' :A lyric from the infamous 1982 Charlene hit I've Never Been to Me about a woman trying to prove to another woman that having a husband and child is greater than all the extraordinary things the singer has done. *Joel asks Cambot for Rocket Number 9 for the first time. :"Rocket Number Nine" is the title of a song by experimental jazz musician from his 1972 album Space Is the Place. *''"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down, that's not my department."'' :Line in the song "Wernher von Braun", featured in the 1965 comedy record That Was the Year That Was. *''"Hello Cleveland!"'' :A line from the movie . * "Why don't you just show us ''Marooned?"'' : is an Oscar-winning (for visual effects) 1969 film about a disastrous space expedition. Forrester replied to Joel with "We couldn't get it!"; Marooned turned up on MST3K two years after this episode, with the Film Ventures International treatment under the title Space Travelers. Behind the scenes MST3K cast Regular cast *Joel Hodgson - Joel Robinson *Trace Beaulieu - Crow T. Robot / Dr. Clayton Forrester *Kevin Murphy - Tom Servo *Frank Conniff - TV's Frank Guest cast *Michael J. Nelson - Valeria MST3K crew Production * Kevin Murphy's first appearance as Tom Servo. * Frank Conniff's first appearance as TV's Frank. * First appearance of the “TURN DOWN YOUR LIGHTS (Where applicable)” title card. It will last until Season 4's The Giant Gila Monster. * The Satellite of Love and Deep 13 get new sets starting in this episode. * Michael J. Nelson is promoted to Head Writer with this episode. * Segment 3 features the first Hexfield Viewscreen visitor in the series. * “Keep circulating the tapes” appears for the first time in the end credits. *With the multiple changes in the show between seasons 1 and 2, there are multiple new scenes in the opening: **The scenes with Larry in the opening are replaced with Frank; while the footage with the old set is replaced with the new one. **The "Robot Roll Call" sequence now has text for all the bots; as well as Joel being pushed back with text instead of saying it deadpan. **The shot of the SOL now has Forrester and Frank rise up into space to say the last "la la la" instead of cutting back to Deep 13. **The shot of the Demon Dogs invading the SOL is now replaced with Joel playing the BGC-19 Drum Kit from this episode's Invention Exchange. *Joel begins to wear a different jumpsuit, of a teal color, beginning with this episode. Callbacks *"Dames like this always got beer around." (The Crawling Hand) *"SPACOM!" (Project Moon Base) Film Edits Like most of the riffed films, Rocketship X-M was edited by trimming some scenes to reduce its overall run time. Notably, the following changes were made to the film: * The special effects shots added in the 1978 release of the film were omitted. Most of these were exterior shots of the ''X-M ''capsule either flying through space or landing/taking off from Mars. * The original theatrical release of the film used a reddish-pink coloring scheme during scenes taking place on Mars. These were converted to a violet-blue tint in the MST3k version to roughly match the rest of the film. Goofs Video releases A home video release of this episode is not currently forthcoming. However, the host segments are available on the Satellite Dishes disc included in Volume XXXIX. Gallery References Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 2 Category:Unreleased Episodes Category:Season Premieres Category:Episodes directed by Jim Mallon